The new guidelines "allow the principal to censor content that 'substantially interfere(s) with the educational process, educational environment, or rights of other students,'" Coutré writes. They also request that adults in the building get courtesy titles in front of their last names as a sign of respect.

SPLC wrote about those guidelines on March 12, which began with a February issue on rape culture at the school. Jonathan Turley, a lawyer and professor of law at George Washington University, ran the censored story in full on his blog.

According to Coutré's story, students launched an online petition in March that has nearly 6,000 supporters.

(Principal Jon) Wiltzius said he couldn’t answer questions about students’ First Amendment rights.

“All I know is that we are a public school,” Wiltzius said. “We’re guided by school board policy, and policy indicates that we must have guidelines for anything that we print or present as school-related. So that’s what I’m adhering to until I’m told differently.”

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Kristen Hare covers local news innovation for the Poynter Institute. Her work for Poynter has earned her a Mirror Award nomination. Hare, a graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, spent 5 years as the Sunday features writer and an assistant editor at the St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press, and five years as a staff writer covering race, immigration, the census and aging at the St. Louis Beacon. She also spent two years with the Peace Corps in Guyana, South America. Hare and her family live outside Tampa.